Episcopal Church split moves forward

(CNN) - Conservatives estranged from the Episcopal Church in the United States and its Canadian counterpart are expected to formally announce Wednesday the formation of a rival "province" in the two countries.

Leaders of the new Anglican Church in North America are expected to unveil a draft constitution for the province - or ecclesiastical territorial division - at an evening service at the 1,200-seat Wheaton Evangelical Free Church in Wheaton, Illinois, the group said in a written statement.

"The public release of our draft constitution is an important concrete step toward the goal of a biblical, missionary and united Anglican Church in North America," Bishop Robert Duncan of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, diocese, said in the written statement.

The move comes after years of debate over several issues, ranging from the interpretation of the Bible to homosexuality. Tensions reached a boiling point in 2003, when the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay man, Rev. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire.